New Seed-Applied Biological Aims to Fix Corn’s Ammonia Problem

28 September 2026, Illinois: US agricultural technology company Sound Agriculture has launched a new seed-applied biological product called INFLECT, designed to help corn plants cope with fields that receive heavy applications of anhydrous ammonia or manure, conditions that can create a harsh chemical environment for young roots and the beneficial soil microbes that support early plant growth. The product, announced on September 24, is applied as a powder coating to seed in the planter box at planting time, making it simple for farmers to adopt without changing existing equipment or field operations.

INFLECT combines two bacterial species, Bacillus simplex and Bacillus subtilis, with a fungal strain called Coniochaeta nivea. According to the company, the bacterial component forms a protective buffer between plant roots and concentrated ammonia in the soil, helping to stabilize pH near the root zone and support healthier early root development, while the fungal component helps break down manure and other complex organic compounds in the soil, releasing nitrogen and other nutrients in a form plants can use more readily. Jeff Divan, Sound Agriculture’s Vice President of Agronomy, said high ammonium levels create a harsh environment for soil biology that reduces microbial diversity, which is the specific problem the new product is intended to address.

In commercial-scale field trials run across twelve sites in Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri over one growing season, INFLECT delivered an average yield gain of about 6 bushels per acre, with improved yields recorded at eleven of the twelve trial sites, a 92 percent success rate. Those are the kind of results that matter to row-crop farmers operating on thin per-acre margins, where a gain of even a few bushels can meaningfully change the economics of a heavy nitrogen fertility program. INFLECT becomes the third product in Sound Agriculture’s portfolio, joining SOURCE, a signaling chemistry product aimed at improving nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency, and BLUEPRINT, a product built around arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that help plant roots take up nutrients and water more efficiently.

Part of a broader shift toward biologicals

The launch fits a wider pattern across global crop input markets, where seed companies, agrochemical majors, and specialized agtech firms have all been expanding investment in biological products, meaning treatments derived from living organisms or their byproducts rather than purely synthetic chemistry. Biologicals are being positioned by the industry as complements to, rather than replacements for, conventional fertilizer and crop protection products, offering farmers a way to improve nutrient efficiency or plant resilience without necessarily reducing the yield potential that comes from adequate ammonia or manure-based nitrogen supply. The efficiency angle is particularly relevant at a time when fertilizer costs remain a major input expense for row-crop farmers worldwide and when regulators in multiple markets are pushing for more efficient nitrogen use to reduce runoff and emissions.

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